DmC: The Unknown Element
by Ravien VaLente Spada
Summary: A group of 4 guys helping her to escape from a government facility was not what our resident demon huntress expected. And with the revealing of a twin sibling along with a plot by a demon lord to conquer the world...her new boyfriend and his 3 buds are about to find out just what they've gotten themselves into. This'll be one crazy party. fem!Dante/OC fem!Vergil/OC Kat/OC OC/OC
1. Discovered

'Sup, peoples? This is VaLente Spada, trying my hand at a DmC fanfiction. The idea for this was originally going to be for DMC3, but after playing the reboot, I decided to transfer the idea to a story on it instead. Comparing the two first chapters, I think this one came out a bit better.

So without further ado, here it is.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters.

* * *

Text Key:

"speech"

_'thought'_

"**demonic speech"**

***loud sound effect***

(author comments)

-{[scene heading & info]}-

_flashbacks & emphasized wording _

_"crossed speech"_ (when someone within Limbo is speaking to a person in the real world and vice versa)

_**song lyrics**_

* * *

(This party's getting' crazy...let's rock!)

* * *

-{[waterfront; 11 pm]}-

(play "Rhythmic Hallucination" - _King of Fighters '97_)

Darkness had set upon Limbo City, and everything seemed pretty normal. Trains moved at their scheduled times, traffic was nominal, and various people roamed the streets either heading to work or looking for some late night fun and action. And no one was having a better time than corporate super businessman and banker, Kyle Ryder.

Tonight, he was at the top of his company building along the river, several security cameras and windows overlooking the city many stories below. He was currently on the phone with a very important client.

"...yes, by close of trading on Friday. No, you can't have more time. You know the terms, you know the consequences." Kyle said, a smugness in his tone.

Kyle looked like your average fatcat: bald, somewhat old, chubby in stature, and wearing the classic black suit 'n tie with dress shoes to match. However, this guy was the richest man in the country, maybe even the entire_ world_, and he had no problem in very confidently flaunting his wealth and influence in order to gain power.

"Is that a concealed threat, Kyle?" the man on the other line asked, Kyle responding with a derisive chuckle.

"No, this is not a veiled threat. This is a direct one. Should you fail to comply, the collapse of the economy will be on your head. I will make sure that you are stripped of power, shamed, and hated. Is that clear enough for you?" Ryder continued.

"...yes...very well, I will acquiesce to your demands." the client said begrudgingly.

"Well, Friday it is, then. You have a good night...Mr. President." Kyle finalized, shutting off the phone and turning with a smirk to the only other occupant of the room.

"Did you get it, my darling?" the woman asked.

With a slim and curvy figure, she was a rather attractive individual...if one looked past her less than enticing facial features. Dark-blonde hair aside, she had the appearance of a traditional hooker: pink dress, heels, and black gloves that stretched to her elbows.

"Over a _trillion_. Soon, I will own everything worth owning. I will control the world...through debt. I have absolute power." he answered with a dark smile.

"Hehe...the world is at last your bitch, as am I. Nothing left, you just grab it by the hair, bend it over, and f-" she started, but cut herself off as Kyle suddenly moved away, now looking out the window with a pensive expression.

"What's the matter? What, what's the matter?" she asked. "A loose end." he answered succinctly. "A loose end? What?" she wondered.

"The daughter of the traitor, Sparda...Dayna." he continued, a frown now marring his wrinkled face.

"Her..." the woman idly remarked with disdain.

"She's still out there." Ryder said, peering into the citywide distance.

"The Hunters will find her...they found Sparda and his whore. And when they do capture her..." the woman trailed off expectantly.

"I...will rip open her chest with my bare hands and feast on her beating heart, just like I did with her mother. And when it's finally done, I'll ensure that she's violated for eternity by as many minions of Hell that can get their dicks in her." he spoke vehemently, a menacing smile upon his visage.

If only anyone knew what Kyle Ryder's true identity was...

* * *

-{[the next morning; downtown]}-

(play "Seize the Day" - _Bless_)

A young man was walking along the streets, the sun having already risen and started its daily trek through the skies.

Appearance wise, he looked rather average. He was about six feet even in height with somewhat of an athletic build, though the full depth of his form was shrouded by his baggy clothing which consisted of a black hoodie, tank top, blue denim jeans, and white tennis shoes.

His skin tone was a light tan, his eyes were of the standard brown color, and his black hair was styled into several cornrows going from front-to-back along his head, the ends of which stretching towards his neck and just barely reaching it.

The guy was heading over to the local amusement park to visit a friend of his; a female friend, who's living in a trailer right next to the place.

Why a trailer? Well, she's had to lay low, ever since she broke out of some asylum(a jailbreak he helped with). The government apparently considered her 'detached from reality' over her belief in _demons_ and spirits, an opinion of her which he didn't share.

Though he wasn't completely sold on the whole supernatural idea, he trusted his friend, and he himself would admit that some strange happenings had been going on...something other than the supposed terrorist attacks. Maybe the 'ridiculous' theories of that masked lady on the news weren't so off-the-wall as he'd once thought...

Anyways, he pushed those thoughts out of his head as he attempted calling his friend for a third time. He sighed as he again received no answer. _'Jeez...hope Dayna didn't go to that club again.' _the man thought, before he was nearly ran over by some hooded figure who apparently really had somewhere to be.

"Hey, hold up there! Where's the fire?" he called out, but the person seemingly didn't hear him and kept going...in the direction of the park. "Huh...why's that chick in such a hurry...?" he asked himself out loud, shifting into a run and following the individual.

* * *

-{[trailer within the park]}-

(play Shadow's theme from _Sonic Generations_)

_'Ugh...shouldn't have hit the club last night...' _a young woman thought, outwardly groaning as she woke up from her sleep. She'd had a bit of a wild time...

A nightclub.

Several women wearing nothing but bikinis and 'angel' wings.

The burning feeling of alcohol going down her throat.

Hazy images of various other visitors running together in a mashed-up mess.

Blinding laser lights flashing everywhere.

The throbbing bass from the club's music.

A vision of various people who looked as though their eyes were gouged out...!

That startling image roused the woman from her sleep with a jerk, the covers falling from her form as she rose to a sitting position, revealing a lithe, toned, curvy, and currently naked body save for a pair of red panties and a red amulet on a necklace she wore. She shook her head a bit in order to clear the spots from her vision. A tribal sort of tattoo rested upon her back, appearing to glow amidst the sunlight.

"The masked lunatic we've broadcast in recent reports has again sent out a televised message to the public. Here's the live feed." a newsman on the droning tv next to her said, the screen switching to a woman wearing a black cloak and a silver face mask. The caption read, 'Terrorist Wanted' on the screen beneath her.

"The demons have been increasing their power for millennia. They're on the verge of controlling mankind. Citizens, we've been kept asleep in a manufactured illusion for far too long. We must wake up!" she said imploringly, though her voice was distorted.

"The woman here claims to represent an organization called 'The Order', a group which has assumed responsibility for several serious attacks in the past few weeks. She is undoubtedly a traitor and a terrorist, but I, for one, am _not _for the death penalty, so there's only one other way...illegally shoot the bitch. This is Bob Barbas, just doing God's work." the reporter finalized, though why no one seemed shocked at his declaration of what to do with the woman was a mystery.

Running a hand through her black, shoulder-length hair to remove some of the bed-head static, she hit the off button on the tv. "Wonder if Ty's comin' to visit today..." she thought out loud, recalling her first meeting with a _very _good friend of hers...

* * *

-{[flashback; 3 years ago]}-

_Locked up in a government-controlled asylum on the grounds of insanity, the woman could scarcely keep track of time, hours upon hours seeming to just go on and on...not that she really cared one way or the other._

_Day in and day out, it was the same thing..._

_Guards would haul her into an interrogation room and ask her questions either about her belief in the supernatural or in attempts to place blame on her for things she never did. She generally responded with one of two things: remained silent while glaring at the questioner, or said something along the lines of 'fuck off' and flipped him the bird._

_Then she'd get roughed up a bit, taken away, and thrown back into her cell. And then the day would end, the whole process starting all over again the next day._

_But one day, things changed...for good._

_Rather than the guards coming to her cell, they ran right past it. Confused at the action, as she'd come to expect the usual pattern, she moved towards the bars and listened in to what they were saying._

"_Intruders? What the hell...? Who would come to help break this bitch out of here?!" she heard one guard say, herself mentally asking the same, before an explosion rang out near where the man was._

_Silence reigned for a scant moment, but she soon heard several sets of running footsteps, this time coming towards her._

(play Abel's theme from _Street Fighter 4_)

_When the light partially revealed them, she was surprised to see that the individuals weren't officers, but regular looking people. There were four of them, though she couldn't quite make out their facial features in the dim lighting. What she could tell was that all of them wore basically the same outfit, blue denim jeans and tennis shoes, and if their general bodily shapes were anything to go by, all of them were male. Only on their upper bodies were there differences: one wore a white tank top, another a navy-blue t-shirt, the third a jersey with the number '85', and the one in the middle, assumedly the leader, a black hoodie with the hood currently up. Speaking of which, the leader stepped forward with a set of keys in hand, unlatching her cell door._

"_We're bustin' you outta here." the person said, the voice sounding as that of a young man._

_She didn't need to hear another word. She didn't know who these people were, or why they were helping her, but one thing was for sure...__she wanted out. And if these guys were willing to help, who was she to stop 'em?_

_The four ran off in the direction she'd heard the explosion, and she quickly followed, t__he group rounding a corner just as alarms began to blare throughout the compound, though the five continued the run regardless. They were undeterred even by gun-wielding guards, as the four jailbreakers were armed as well and were apparently much more dangerous._

"_Who are you guys, anyway? Why are you helping me?" she asked, still following wherever they went._

"_We'll explain after we've gotten outta here. Zack, how close are we to the nearest exit?" the leader responded, his cohort with the tank top pulling out a portable gps system and examining it for a second._

"_30 yards...right after we turn this corner." Zack answered, the group heading in that direction._

_Halfway there, however, they were caught from behind by several pistol-armed guards. Pinned down by gunfire, the group was forced to stop moving in order to take cover and return fire. _

"_To hell with this, we ain't got time to waste." the t-shirt wearer said, going into a roll and firing an Uzi. The jersey wearer followed suit and unleashed dual semi-auto SMG's, the two downing enough enemies to allow for the five to get moving again, the two gunners still firing upon their attackers._

_So focused were they on escaping, no one noticed another inmate, who was using the confusion to make an escape of his own, hiding within a vent above them. __'How dare you deny me, you bitch...the only way you're getting out of here is in a body bag!' he thought, aiming a stolen gun at the woman and firing._

_Just before the bullet could pierce her neck, however, the leader got in the way and took it in the abdomen. _

"_Ty!" the t-shirt wearer called out, looking back for a second._

"_I'm good, I'm good! Keep it movin'!" Ty responded, staggering a bit but still managing to retain his running speed._

_It was a grueling rush after that, but they eventually managed to evade pursuit, though it was technically because the compound had no one left to chase them in the wake of three machine guns._

(end song)

_Finally coming to a stop, the woman took a moment to look at the guys who'd helped her with seemingly no provocation whatsoever._

_The one with the white tank top who'd been called Zack was a semi-typical caucasian, with blue eyes and auburn brown hair styled straight with a small coif at the front. He was rather slender, but a bit of toned muscle was present in his form._

_The man in the #85 jersey was latino with tanned skin, black hair that was straight and only went to his neck, and dark-brown eyes. His build was similar to Zack's, but he had a more noticeable tone to his upper body, most likely a football player if his choice of clothing was anything to go by._

_The guy in the navy blue t-shirt was asian, with a pale-ish skin tone and long black hair that stretched to his shoulders. His eyes were a strange case; the pupil on one was completely black, as if no light could pass into it, and though the other was normal in that sense, its color was a crimson-red. Like Zack, he also had a toned but slender bodily build._

_The leader, who'd been called Ty, had dropped his hood, revealing himself as an african-american. His skin was a light tan, hair black and styled into cornrow braids, and eyes a light brown. His main build was hidden by the hoodie he wore, but he looked to sport slightly more weight on his form than Zack and the asian._

"_Okay, I'll ask again...why the hell'd you do all that?" she asked._

"_They plastered your face all over the news when they nabbed you. I don't know 'bout all this 'demon' crap, but I do know that you're not crazy. The minute I saw your face on tv, I knew I wanted to get you out of there." Ty answered with a bloody smile._

"_But why? You didn't even meet me in person until now." she responded, still unsure._

"_You didn't have the look of a crazy woman. Still don't, really. You seem like a pretty straight believer in whatever they called you nuts for, but not a crazy one. I could tell they were wrong. Besides, it'd be a crime to let those government assholes do away with a fine-looking lady like yourself." he answered, still smiling as the woman flushed ever so slightly at the compliment, the others sharing some knowing smirks with one another at the gesture._

"_Ty, we'd better get going. We still gotta erase the security footage from their cameras...and patch up that bullet wound." Zack said._

"_Yeah, I know. You oughta leave, lady. We'll clean things up here." Ty responded, holding a hand over his wound as he and the other guys moved to leave._

"_But what about..." she started, but he cut her off._

"_I'll be fine. It'll take more than one bullet to bring me down. Just get going!" he said, starting an unsteady run and rounding the corner along with the others, the four disappearing from her line of sight._

_The woman acquiesced and headed off in the opposite direction, though she mentally hoped she'd meet him again..._

_And she did, a year later, ironically at the nightclub the woman now frequents. It was the guy's birthday, and his buddies had brought him there, hoping he'd have a hell of a time with the 'angels'._

_She almost instantly recognized him, and vice versa, his friends leaving him alone heading in random directions as she approached._

_After attempting to talk to each other for a while, though, the two quickly decided the nightclub was way too loud for conversation, and left. Ty drove the two of them back to his apartment complex a couple cities over..._

_...and after a rather brief dinner and talk with one another, the two promptly fucked each others' brains out the rest of the night._

_The woman awoke the next morning feeling oddly refreshed and wondering why she wasn't sleeping in her trailer, but as she wasn't drunk, she quickly remembered the events of the night before. She retrieved her clothes, taking a minute to get the feeling back in her legs, and made to leave, though not before the guy asked to make her breakfast. She'd initially shrugged off the gesture, but went for it after he insisted._

"_I don't expect any sort of obligations or shit like that from you over what happened last night. We did what we did, had a hell of a lotta fun doing it, and I made sure I didn't knock you up." he'd said to her, surprising her as she halfway expected the guy to try and stick to her like glue. However, she idly hoped he wasn't one of those punks who'd just 'hit it and quit it', as it were. He'd be minus a certain appendage if he was._

_Noticing a coming response, he continued. "But, that doesn't mean I'm throwing you out. You can stay as long as you want. I'd...really like it if we could hang out sometime." he said, a bit of a shy smile on his face._

_Surprised yet again, she kicked the idea around in her head a bit and figured it wouldn't be so bad. Even barring last night and the asylum escape, he seemed like a pretty decent guy to be around._

"_Alright, I think I can do that. What's your name, stud?" she asked with a friendly smirk. _

"_Tyler...Tyler Rose. But you've heard my bros call me Ty, which is fine. What's your name, babe?" he responded, smirking back._

"_Dayna."_

* * *

-{[flashback end]}-

They'd met up on many occasions afterwards, several of which ending with them in bed together.

Though he lived in a different city near his folks, he always did his best to take time out of the week to come visit her, a trek he seemed to make more and more often as time went on.

She'd even come to know his friends from the jailbreak, who accompanied him at times though rarely all at once.

Zack, the caucasian, was a rather laidback and somewhat lazy individual, always ready to joke around but knowing when to be serious if he had to be. A technological whiz, he was almost always messing about with some sort of machine or gadget. He'd twice been offered a position as a technician, but he turned them both down, saying 'I wouldn't wanna be stuck in some crappy office building nine hours a day. I do this 'cause I like doin' it, and that's it.' He was 20 years old at the jailbreak.

The latino, whose name was Joe, was silent most of the time unless responding to her or one of the others. It was later confirmed that he was a former football player at his college, but he had to quit when his parents lost their jobs, leaving him as the sole person to make his family's income. A pretty serious guy, but Zack always joked that he didn't know much English. That crack usually earned him a punch in the face or two, but Joe himself never verbally confirmed nor denied it. He was 21 at the escape.

The asian, named Ian, was a semi-pro skateboarder. She saw him the least as he took his chosen profession rather seriously, planning to one day go full-time. Like Zack, he was a 'go with the flow' kinda guy, but he always seemed to know about whatever was going on within the city. He could tell you about the local happenings in excruciating detail before the actual news stations ever breathed a word of it. How? No one knows, not even his friends. He was 19 back then.

And then there was Ty. He was a track star at his high school before he graduated, always keeping in mind the notion of speed and precision over power and brute force anytime he happened to get into a fight. The black dude was more or less a mix of all his buddies rolled into one, though he himself seemed more in touch with his emotions than any of the others. He always trusted his gut feelings, whether they ended particularly well or not, and was generally the mediator between the others, stopping fights before they got too serious. As the unofficial leader of the group, he was fiercely protective of his friends and of her as well, a fact she secretly enjoyed despite being older than him. Ironically enough, he was the youngest of 'em all...18 at the time of the asylum escape.

All in all, they were a good group of people and one she thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with. Though she'd be lying if she said she didn't think about Ty more than the others, though she wasn't quite sure why.

It wasn't merely his physical appearance, though he did carry a young, sort of roguish attractiveness...it wasn't just the intercourse, though she'd admit he was quite the man in bed...

Perhaps it was his personality and demeanor; how he didn't let anything trivial really affect him...the confidence he showed in his instincts...how he'd easily knock a guy's lights out for looking at her funny...

...or maybe it was because he'd been the only one who sought to help her out of a situation she hadn't deserved to be put into.

Yes, she was sure his friends thought pretty well of her now, but at that time, they had never even seen her before. In fact, Zack had once told her that Ty was the only reason they'd come that day.

"_I tell ya, it was weird when Ty suddenly called all of us to help break a chick none of us had even met out of a crazy home, but when he was talkin' to us face-to-face about the whole deal, we could tell...he was more serious about this than he'd been for nearly anything else in the time we've known him. He would've gone to help you out by himself if he had to."_

It wasn't the fact that he and his friends had done it...given enough time, she'd easily have escaped on her own. But it _was_ the fact that he cared enough _to_ do it, even going as far as to convince his buddies to help as well. If the escape had failed, the four of them might've ended up locked right in there with her, or perhaps even killed right on the spot. He put himself and his life on the line for her, someone he'd never spoken to until after the deed was done.

The thought that someone actually cared enough for her to be willing to do such a thing...the feeling was so new to her, but it just felt great, almost euphoric. It made her feel higher than any amount of drug use or alcohol consumption could produce.

But her pleasant remembrance was decidedly cut off by a loud and insistent knocking at her trailer door. "Dayna, get out of there! You're in danger!" she heard an unfamiliar female voice say.

Groaning again and giving her trailer one last once over, she headed to the door, not even bothering to put on any clothes.

Opening the door, Dayna was immediately assaulted by the rays of the sun. Shielding her eyes, she looked down and saw a black-haired young woman. The unknown female was wearing a zipped-up brown jacket with a white shirt showing underneath along with blue shorts. A hood was above her head, but it showed that she sported short black hair. The mark of a Wiccan rested upon the forehead of her tanned skin. She seemed a bit nonplussed at the other's total lack of clothing, but was otherwise unaffected.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Dayna asked, her eyes starting to adjust to the light.

"You were careless and left a trail. Now he's onto you." she said, confusing Dayna.

"What're you talking about, who's onto me?" she asked, the woman looking around a bit before answering.

"A hunter demon." she said, just as a growl began to be heard. The woman whirled in apprehension. "He's here."

(play Hunter's theme from _DmC_)

Looking out at the ocean a ways away, Dayna noticed the sky and landscape gradually shift into a bloody red color as a giant monkey-looking..._thing_ rose from out of the water.

"**Daaaaaayyyynnnaaaa...!" **it snarled, moving ever closer to land.

"He's dragging you into Limbo." the woman said.

"Demon scum." Dayna remarked, glaring at the monster.

"It's too late. You're gonna have to fight your way out." the woman said, her form turning a ghostly white and then disappearing.

Just afterwards, the landscape suddenly split apart, black pillars rising at various locations and shattering the roadways into large chunks. The skies and water completely turned red, leaving her with a hellish view of the 'new' park.

"Damn, back in Limbo." Dayna remarked with gritted teeth.

* * *

-{[with Ty; real world]}-

Just as he seemed to catch up to the mysterious individual, he had to brace himself as what seemed to be an earthquake started!

Looking around, he could see some of the cement split, bits of rubble appearing to defy gravity and rise from the ground. Even some of the rides at the park were coming apart at the seams, the metal bending and twisting in unnatural ways. But when he blinked, everything seemed to revert back to normal in a flash, the park looking no worse for wear. He noticed he was standing several feet from the woman who'd almost run him over before, and that Dayna's trailer was open but she didn't seem to be inside.

"What the hell's goin' on here...?! Where's Dayna?" he asked the woman, who was surprised at someone else searching for her.

"You...wouldn't believe me if I told you. Who are you, and how do you know Dayna?" the woman asked, sensing that the individual before her was completely human.

"I oughta be asking you that same question. What's happened to her?" Ty asked, looking around and seeing no signs of his friend. He thought he saw the ghostly outline of a figure right in front of her trailer other than the woman, but just like the park's 'renovations' it was gone in a blink.

"You...can't see her?" the woman asked tentatively, taking a second to notice that he seemed to be having a bit of trouble keeping his balance. _'If he can feel the phantom vibrations of what's going on in Limbo, then shouldn't he be able to see her, too?' _she thought to herself, pondering the strange phenomenon.

"_-y...'m ri-...-ere!"_ Ty thought he heard, but he shrugged it off. "What do you mean, can I see her? Of course I can't or I wouldn't ask, now where is she?!" he questioned the woman, who held up her hands in a placating gesture.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you what's going on, but...get down!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, tackling Ty to the ground.

"Hey, what the hell's your...whoa!" he shouted, as Dayna's trailer appeared to get crushed inward by some invisible force and tossed away, crashing into one of the park rides!

"Holy shit..." Ty remarked, not quite believing what he'd just seen.

"I know it seems unreal, but you're gonna have to trust me. Follow me, and you'll find Dayna and get your questions answered." the woman said, getting back to her feet and helping Ty up.

He looked at her for a moment, then towards the now-destroyed trailer and back, taking in the sudden turn in which his day had gone. He didn't know this lady or what the flying fuck was happening here, but if she had some answers and knew where Dayna was, then he'd sure as hell find out.

"Alright, but you'd better tell me." Ty relented.

"I will. Come on!" she said, running off in a seemingly random direction.

Amidst the panicked screams of the other park visitors, Ty followed.

* * *

-{[meanwhile, in Limbo]}-

"Ty, I'm right here!" Dana said to him from within the other dimension, but the guy didn't seem to hear her. Or perhaps he did, as he confusedly looked around for a bit but apparently could not see her.

_'It's probably good he can't see me right now, though...if he finds out all the demon 'nonsense' is true and that I'm right in the middle of it, then...' _she inwardly thought, worried at how Ty might react. She sighed as she looked back towards the demon, who had hit land and was coming closer.

"What a hell of a day this ended up being." she idly remarked, just as the demon aimed some sort of metal prong at her and fired.

She dodged it, but the device latched on to her trailer, denting it inwards. "Get your filthy claw off my trailer!" she yelled at it.

Though it seemed to respond to her and pull the claw back, it unfortunately dragged the trailer along with it! Reacting quickly, Dayna jumped through the open door, dodging the various objects flying around her and grabbing what she needed.

She picked up dark-colored pants, fingerless gloves, black boots, and a gray tank top that was cut halfway down, crashing through the back window of her trailer unharmed and fully clothed, the ripped top showing off her toned abdomen. She watched her former home fly off into the distance and get smashed in half by the demon.

"Missed." she said with a smirk as the 'hunter' dove back into the water.

(end song)

Suddenly starting to hear a groaning noise around her, Dayna looked around and saw several, much smaller demons emerging from the ground.

The otherworldly beings were somewhat humanoid in appearance, but they looked as though the skin and muscles had been sheared off, leaving only the skeleton which was covered in a black, tar-like substance. Their weapons were fused to their arms...wooden bats of sorts with spikes protruding from them.

* * *

_Common Enemy - Lesser Stygian_

* * *

"Well, after that so-called 'hunter' demon, I'm disappointed that this is all the welcoming committee has to offer." Dayna said, smirking as she reached towards the sides of her waist...only to find nothing there.

"The hell...where are my guns? Matter of fact...where's my jacket? Don't remember seeing it in the trailer..." she thought idly to herself, broken from said thoughts by one of the demons suddenly lunging at her! She backflipped away from the slash, giving herself some breathing room.

"Oh, well. Time for some action." she said as a thin broadsword emerged upon her back in a flash of light, the woman quickly grasping its handle and brandishing it towards her demonic enemies.

* * *

_Inherited Sword – Rebellion_

* * *

"You wanna party? Well come on, let's dance." she said lastly as her enemies surged forth...

* * *

Notes

And there it is. R&R please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. No flaming or trolling, though. Seriously. If you have any criticism, make it constructive.

To be honest, this is more of an idea than a full-blown story. But if enough people seem to like it, I'll keep going on it. No matter what, though, I'll type out at least one more chapter and finish off the first DmC mission and the Hunter boss battle.

This is VaLente Spada, signing off! See ya later!


	2. From Hunter to Prey

Great…2 weeks into my new schedule of updating one of my stories every week, and I'm already an update behind. Sorry readers. Ol' VaLente's been dealing with several exams for the past couple weeks, limiting my story writing time. But my tests are done for now, so I can finally get back to it.

Last time, Dayna was ready to face down the first set of enemies while Ty and Kat traversed the demons' path of destruction throughout the real world. When will the Hunter attack again? How will Tyler react when he discovers what Dayna's _true _life is all about?

Find out, right now!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters.

* * *

Text Key:

"speech"

_'thought'_

"**demonic speech"**

***loud sound effect***

(author comments)

-{[scene heading & info]}-

_flashbacks & emphasized wording _

_"crossed speech"_ (when someone within Limbo is speaking to a person in the real world and vice versa)

_**song lyrics**_

* * *

(last time, on _Unknown Element_...)

"Holy shit..." Ty remarked, not quite believing what he'd just seen.

"I know it seems unreal, but you're gonna have to trust me. Follow me, and you'll find Dayna and get your questions answered." the woman said, getting back to her feet and helping Ty up.

He looked at her for a moment, then towards the now-destroyed trailer and back, taking in the sudden turn in which his day had gone. He didn't know this lady or what the flying fuck was happening here, but if she had some answers and knew where Dayna was, then he'd sure as hell find out.

"Alright, but you'd better tell me." Ty relented.

"I will. Come on!" she said, running off in a seemingly random direction.

Amidst the panicked screams of the other park visitors, Ty followed.

* * *

"Time for some action." Dayna said as a thin broadsword emerged upon her back in a flash of light, the woman quickly grasping its handle and brandishing it towards her demonic enemies. "You wanna party? Well come on, let's dance." she said lastly as her enemies surged forth...

(and now...)

* * *

-{[amusement park; with Ty]}-

"Alright, lady. Can you please explain to me what the hell's going on here?" Ty asked curtly, running through the rapidly deteriorating park and following the still-unnamed woman.

"Demons are attacking." the woman answered concisely, causing Ty to nearly stumble and fall in shock.

"You're kidding, right?" he said after regaining his bearings. The woman only looked at him with a completely serious stare for a moment.

"This is no joke." she said without a single hint of deceit or amusement.

"You're telling me that the so-called 'terrorist' lady on the news was actually speaking the truth?!" Ty exclaimed, having to yell over the rising cacophony of the screaming patrons and earthquake-like rumblings of the ground beneath them. At the woman's nod, he chuckled incredulously.

"Great…just fucking great. Well, these demons or whatever sure are good at trashing the place!" he said, jumping over a particularly large crack in the earth and continuing to run. He was really starting to thank all those years of track in school.

"They're after someone." the woman said, looking ahead and rounding a corner with Ty following.

"After who?" he inquired as she suddenly stopped, creeping slowly towards what looked to be a wide open area, an expanse of water directly next to them.

"They want to destroy Dayna."

* * *

-{[meanwhile, in Limbo]}-

(play the "jukebox" song of Dante's office from DMC3)

"Come at me, boys!" Dayna taunted, readying her sword.

The tar-covered demons acquiesced, rushing at her. One tried to smash her overhead with its weapon, but failed as she smacked the attack clear off-course and swiftly decapitated the otherworlder. Another attempted a hard sidewinder, but missed as Dayna casually leaned her body out of harm's way and bisected the enemy at the waist.

The last two demons in this group assaulted her at once, trying to pin her down from both sides. She stopped both their attacks by breaking into a short 180 spin and blocking the strikes, making the demons stumble. She slashed one across the chest, quickly turned to the other and nailed it on its head, went back to the first one and hit it with a blow powerful enough to make it disintegrate before again attacking the second with a kick that knocked its head right off its body.

Though that set of enemies was defeated, she was only able to move several meters forward before several more 'lesser' Stygians appeared, surrounding her on all sides.

Dayna went on the offensive this time, starting off strong with a swift dash forward, practically gliding along the ground as she impaled one of the demons through its chest and hurled it onto another one, killing them both on impact.

She jumped into the air to avoid being simultaneously hit on both of her sides, performing the splits over the spiked weaponry and catching both demons by her legs, hanging onto their arms by her boots. She hovered in the air for a second before pulling her legs back together and rolling forward, her body's leverage causing the two demons to slam headfirst into in each other and liquefy.

Quickly rising back to her feet, she turned and chopped an oncoming enemy clean in half with an uppercut slash, its parts separating into neat parts before falling to the ground and liquefying.

With the demons gone, she continued onward.

(end song)

"_Dayna, this way!"_ she heard a female voice call out to her. It sounded like the woman who'd knocked on her door before this mess started.

"_Dayna? Where is she? I don't see her anywhere."_ Tyler's voice rang out, seemingly from the same location as the woman.

"_We'll meet up with her soon. Come on, keep moving."_ the female voice responded.

'_It's Ty…but who's that with him?'_ Dayna inwardly questioned, heading in the direction the voices had come from.

The path led to a long wooden bridge, several small trailers along its edges. Looking beyond it, she saw…two silver pistols hanging on a red and black brassière she recognized as hers, the article of clothing itself hanging from a telephone pole in the distance.

"Well, that answers the question of where my bra went...but why the hell are my guns up there?" she asked herself, moving to head towards them. Hearing a noise behind her, she turned only to see that the 'hunter' demon had made a return, aiming his metal claw at her!

"Whoa!" Dayna exclaimed as the claw latched onto the bridge, shattering the back end. The demon pulled on it, separating it from the bridge and causing the rest of it to start falling apart!

Looking down, the demon huntress saw two words suddenly display along the cracking wood. In all capitals and a bright white in color, they read:

_**NO ESCAPE**_

"Oh, hell!" she yelled as she started to run, the bridge collapsing beneath her.

Only just able to keep her footing on the shattering pathway beneath her, she barely missed one of the trailers as it fell to its side and slid across the bridge. Leaping over a large gap in the wood, she was nearly crushed between two trailers as they slammed into each other. Still another trailer fell directly in front of her, threatening to take her along with it into the water below.

She jumped just in time, landing on top of it and charging forward, jumping to grab her guns and landing off of the now-destroyed bridge, finally reaching safety. She held the twin pistols in her hands, smiling at the familiar feeling. "I missed you girls."

* * *

_Custom-made Firearms – Ebony & Ivory_

* * *

Sensing the presence of the hunter demon, she turned and fired several shots directly into its face as it jumped downward into the water and disappeared once again.

Continuing forward, Dayna was beset by a new type of demon. This one was rather small, though its main body was similar to the Stygian and it sported a single, ironically angel-like wing along with demonic horns. It floated in the air, its stomach looking to be filled with an acid-like fluid.

But it was only simple target practice to Dayna.

* * *

_Common Airborne Enemy - Bathos_

* * *

Aiming her pistols at the Bathos, she quickly dispatched it with a hail of bullets from her pistols, only for four more to take its place. Now firing in two different directions, she had to cartwheel out of the way when one of them fired a small ball of acid which exploded after hitting the ground.

She took down two of the enemies and jumped to avoid a second acid ball, grabbing her sword and slicing one of the remaining two in half with a powerful overhead strike. She blew off the last two enemies' skulls with well-placed headshots, their bodies falling to the ground and liquefying.

However, yet another group emerged, this time accompanied by a few Stygians as well.

Dayna knocked one Stygian into the air with an uppercut slash, jumping after it and pelting it with bullets until it disintegrated, landing on the ground just in time to backflip away from a Bathos acid ball. She couldn't help but laugh a bit when the explosion hit two of the Stygians instead, taking them both out for her.

Ducking under a strike from behind, she impaled the 'bat'-wielding demon and threw it into a Bathos, killing them both. She shot the last remaining Bathos in its stomach to make it explode and rolled under a swing from the last Stygian, cutting it in half at the waist.

* * *

-{[real world]}-

"They're after Dayna?! For what?" Ty asked, continuing to follow the woman through the park. He was starting to figure that he was being kept in the dark about something big, and it was beginning to annoy him greatly.

"I can't tell you." the woman said, still leading him god-knows-where.

"And why the hell not?" he asked, glaring at her.

"Because it's not my place to tell you!" she answered with a raised voice, the first sign of irritation she'd shown since she arrived.

Slightly taken aback, Ty sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Look, lady...I just wanna find out where my friend is and why these demons or whatever are after her, alright?" he said in a placating tone of voice.

"And you will soon enough. Come on, she should be close by." she responded.

"If you say so." Ty answered back.

The two moved onward until the woman caught sight of Dayna...in a manner of speaking. "Dayna!" she called out, the demon hunter turning and aiming her guns at her. The woman gasped in fear and held up her hands in a non-aggressive fashion. "Don't shoot! My name is Kat, I'm not a demon. I'm still in the real world, you're in Limbo." she said quickly.

"_Then how come I can clearly see you, but not Ty? Is he still there with you?"_ Dayna asked, her pistols still pointed at Kat, who glanced over at the young man she'd been traveling with, coming to the conclusion that 'Ty' likely referred to him.

"I'm a medium...a psychic. I can phase my consciousness into Limbo and communicate with you. I can see you, talk to you...but I'm not actually in Limbo with you. Your friend is here with me." Kat answered, Dayna keeping one firearm trained on her.

"_So...what happens if I pull the trigger right now?"_ the demon hunter asked, pointing Ebony directly at Kat's face.

"I'll die." she answered, looking at Dayna with apprehension. "I'm risking my life here for you. I want to help." she said imploringly, but it was brushed off.

"_I don't need your help."_ Dayna answered, lowering her arms and turning to leave.

"The Hunter has dragged you into Limbo. I can get you out." Kat said, stepping up to her.

"_I've been down here before, I already know how to get out. You take down whatever hellspawn brings you here in the first place."_ Dayna responded with a noticeable scowl on her face.

"You don't want to fight the Hunter. He's not your everyday demon." Kat retorted, trying to make Dayna see reason.

"I hate to interrupt this interesting conversation, but I have to say that I'm rather lost. What _is_ this 'Limbo' you're talking about, and this so-called 'Hunter' demon?" Ty cut in, having stayed quiet for a while as he continually tried and failed to wrap his head around the matter. He could swear he'd heard bits and pieces of another voice besides Kat, but he saw no one there.

"Limbo is the counterpart to our world. It is a parallel plane to our realm of existence and home to the demons. The Hunter is of the Alpha class of demons…a brutal fighter, it never stops hunting its target until its mission is done or it is killed." Kat explained.

"So…Limbo is basically Hell on Earth, and this Hunter is some sort of enforcer or something, chasing after whomever it's tasked to eliminate?" Ty summarized, sighing heavily at Kat's nod. "Okay, while I'm taking a moment to let all this sink in…where's Dayna?" he asked, though the answer he got wasn't as he expected.

"_I'm right in front of you, dammit!"_ he very clearly heard her voice answer, yet he still couldn't see a single glimpse of her.

"Dayna…? That you?" he asked, tentatively reaching out a hand in front of him and slowly inching forward.

"That won't work." Kat said, Ty glancing over at her.

"Why not?" he inquired, halting for a bit.

"Because Dayna herself is in Limbo. It's like I said…we're not actually there with her. You can't physically touch her while you're both in the two separate worlds." Kat enumerated, but Ty continued onward anyway.

"But these things in Limbo sure are causing plenty of damage in the real world. Who's to say it can't work the other way around?" he asked, Kat having no answer.

He astonishingly proved himself right when his outstretched hand made 'contact' with Dayna's shoulder, his sight suddenly being consumed in a flash of white and completely changing his view of the park. He could now see a rather shocked and wide-eyed Dayna perfectly, along with the reddened skies, dilapidated buildings, and tar-like pillars.

The shift in his sight happened so suddenly, he jerked back with a yell of surprise, the 'normal' park coming back into his view the second his hand left Dayna's shoulder. "What the fuck was that?!" he asked Kat, breathing heavily in shock at the hellish vision.

"What happened?" she asked, wondering why he looked so shaken.

"The park…! The sky was red, the buildings were wrecked, and there was this black liquid stuff all over the place." he said, Kat's eyes going wide at the description.

"You saw Limbo?!" she said, incredulous at the realization.

"I…guess so." Ty said, looking forward. He could still see Dayna, but her form had faded into a ghostly silver, shimmering against the light of the sun.

"_He crossed over into Limbo just by touching me?! Is that even possible?"_ Dayna asked, her voice now completely clear to Ty's ears.

"I…I don't know." Kat answered honestly, looking over at Ty.

"_What do you mean, you don't know? You sure knew your stuff a minute ago."_ Dayna remarked, crossing her arms.

"This has never happened before, alright?! I didn't even think it was possible until now!" Kat retorted, somewhat indignant.

"Aight, both of you, calm down! Whatever happened there, I saw this Limbo place. I get that now. But we'll worry about how in the hell I did it later. Dayna's gotta get outta there first. Where's this Hunter thing?" Ty asked, looking at Kat, who shook her head.

"No! Dayna can't fight the Hunter yet. We have to keep moving. Both of you follow me, now!" she ordered, moving onward.

"_Pushy little bitch, ain't she?"_ Dayna commented, staring at Kat with annoyance.

"Maybe, but she's the only person who has any real answers for us right now...and she _is _trying to help. Couldn't hurt to let her." Ty said, shrugging his shoulders and following Kat, Dayna walking along with him.

"_Ya know, you're rather calm about this...me fighting demons 'n all."_ she said, surprised that Ty wasn't freaking out or something like that.

"Don't remind me..." he started with a sigh. "...I've barely wrapped my head around any of this shit. But it's your life, Dayna. If this is whatcha gotta do, it's whatcha gotta do. Hell, you're probably doing all of us a favor. You're not any different of a woman for it, so I won't see you as one. Ain't like you asked for this Hunter and his cronies to come after you." he said, Dayna smiling softly at him.

"_Got that right...hehe, you being here is the only reason all this is bearable."_ she said.

"I aim to please." Ty responded with a small grin.

"_I'll be holding you to that."_ Dayna stated with a smirk. Ty's only response was a wider grin.

* * *

-{[several minutes later]}-

Kat led them between a couple of buildings to one of the park rides, a centrifugal spinner, which was somehow completely intact and even still running. Dayna, still in Limbo, looked down and saw another bright white word display on the ground, this time accompanied by a deathly moan...

_**DEATH**_

Several Stygians emerged around her, Dayna smirking as she looked up at the rapidly spinning park ride. _'Death for those suckers, not me.' _she thought as she readied her sword.

"Dayna?" Ty asked, seeing her draw her weapon.

"_Just some grunts, Ty. No big deal."_ she said, the negro nodding and backing off. _"Batter up!"_ she called out as one of the Stygians attacked her, only to be launched right up onto the centrifuge, disintegrating instantly.

The other ones apparently didn't learn from this, all of them facing the same fate as the first. Two hits...three...four...and lastly, five, one by one and each of them a home run. But just when she thought it was over...

"**Rrrrgghh..." **Dayna heard a ways behind her, turning to see that the Hunter had again made an appearance, the monkey demon launching itself forward and latching onto the park's ferris wheel.

This brought Dayna's full attention to the metal wheel, noticing something peculiar. She saw what looked to be an article of clothing hanging from the very top of the ride. _'Wait a minute, that's my coat...! How did it get all the way up there?' _she thought to herself, wondering how she was gonna get up there to take it back.

The question was answered for her when the wheel, pushed by the Hunter, forcibly broke free from its metallic bindings and rolled forward, giving Dayna the chance she needed. Ignoring Ty's shout of surprise, she jumped between the railings, slashing some of them out the way with her blade and snatching up the coat as it neared the ground, the woman landing back on solid ground perfectly unharmed.

"_Nice."_ she said, donning the coat and finally completing her look.

Ty gave her a quick thumbs-up before turning to look at the wheel, still rolling on a destructive path through the park as the terrified screams of the other patrons rose to an all-time high. "I'm guessing the Hunter did that." Ty stated, both Kat and Dayna nodding in affirmation.

"We still have a ways to go. Come on." Kat said, the three continuing onward, unknowing of what was occurring outside the park...

* * *

-{[meanwhile, several miles away]}-

Zack Ryan was lying down on his couch, bored out of his mind.

He'd turned down yet another job offer as a technician, but his boss unfortunately wouldn't accept no as an answer and had had him laid off. Zack didn't even bother with filing a lawsuit for wrongful termination...he'd saved up plenty of money over the years with freelance work, enough to keep him for a while as he looked for yet another occupation...the money he jacked from his ex-boss's bank account was quite the sum as well.

So here he was, watching some _New York Undercover _reruns and hoping to god that something interesting would happen and soon. _'Maybe I'll go visit Ty and Dayna...there ain't never a dull moment with those two.' _he thought, about to get up...

And that was when his cell phone rang. "Zack here. Wazzup?" he greeted lazily.

"Zack, turn on the local news." the caller said, the caucasian quickly recognizing the voice.

"Ian? What's going on?" Zack asked, hearing the roar of a motorcycle in the background.

"Switch to the news station and find out." Ian answered.

Zack did as requested and tuned in to the station. What he saw made his jaw drop and nearly his phone along with it.

"We come to you now with a breaking news story. What you see here is Bellevue Park, live on our eye in the sky. Steve, I cannot believe what is happening!" the reporter said, the camera depicting the park where Dayna, Ty, and Kat currently were.

It was pandemonium. Half of the rides were in ruins, the ferris wheel was on a rampage through the place, and the people were running every which way, their terrified screams audible even to the airborne helicopter camera.

"The hell is this, we got terrorists or something?!" Zack asked Ian in disbelief.

"No idea. But that's over on the pier where Dayna's been holding up, and Ty said he was visiting there today. Whatever's going on down there, they're likely caught right in the middle." Ian said, a ripple of shock and worry passing through Zack as he realized the asian was correct.

"Then we need to get over there!" Zack declared, already getting up.

"My thoughts exactly. Head out as soon as you can." Ian said.

"Already on it, bro. By the way...this is a _breaking _news story. They just found out about it. Sounds like you're on the road, so how did you-" he started to ask, but was cut off.

"Because I can see the freakin' ferris wheel from here! Now come on, I've already contacted Joe. Grab your best gun and let's move. We got some homewreckers to fuck up." Ian finalized, ending the call.

Zack headed to his back room, knowing exactly which gun he was gonna get. _'Just like I thought...never a dull moment with those two.'_

* * *

-{[at the park; in Limbo with Dayna]}-

The Hunter was back yet again...but this time, it seemed he was sticking around for a bit.

"Get down here and fight!" Dayna yelled to it, the demon responding only by firing its metal claw directly at her. However, when it hit the ground in front of her, a portion of the ground suddenly lifted up, forming an earthly 'hand' that tried to crush her!

She only just managed to flip out of its way, following Kat and Ty and ducking inside one of the nearby buildings. The entrance was wrecked by the hand, however, leaving no way out. With a huff, she continued forward.

The building was tall, at least from Dayna's point of view, and had a rather dark interior with crimson lighting, likely due to Limbo's influence. Its hallways were rather thin as well; even the three of them alone would be hard pressed to stand side-by-side here.

"_Haunted house, huh? Nice place...how much further we need to go, Kat?"_ she heard Ty's voice ask, herself wondering the same.

"_Not far. Once we clear this building, we'll be just about there."_ Kat answered.

Rounding a corner, Dayna faced another hallway, this time with several doors along the sides. Moving forward, one suddenly jerked open as a 'human' with glowing white eyes and no skin came out at screamed at her.

"Get lost!" Dayna said, the being immediately complying and going back to wherever it came from, shutting the door behind it.

"_It was just a puppet, Dayna..."_ Ty said to her, looking at her a bit oddly.

"Not on my end, it wasn't. Limbo's crazy like that." she answered, Ty grimacing a bit but nodding and continuing on.

All three of them had to stop, however, when one of the walls was suddenly smashed inward, the two females seeing that it was Hunter trying to reach its arm inside and grab Dayna. _'Guess ol' Hunter's starting to get impatient...good, 'cause I am too.' _the demon huntress inwardly thought.

After that little spell, they came to a junction of several hallways, Dayna quickly taking notice of the giant mirror at the far end.

"_Hey, I bet this is one of those trick mirrors...look at it and you'll see something completely different than your own reflection."_ Ty said, Dayna inspecting the mirror a bit closer...only to see the Hunter's face.

"Guys, get away from the mirror!" she yelled, Ty and Kat having just enough time to back away from the glass before it shattered outward.

Just like Dayna had seen, it was the Hunter, growling menacingly at her. It took a swipe only to miss as Dayna jumped back, drawing Rebellion. Brandishing a dagger, the demon lunged forward with a stab, but she blocked the strike with her sword and redirected the force, causing the Hunter to crash into the wall behind her and blow through it, the rubble created from the impact blocking the demon's way back to her. With a roar, the Hunter disappeared once again.

"_Hmm...should we give that thing points for persistence?"_ Ty joked, Dayna smirking at him and shaking her head.

"Nope. I hate when guys get too pushy. Makes me wanna kick their asses." she retorted saucily.

Kat looked over at the two of them with a hint of envy, the amicable relationship between them clear for all to see despite what was going on. _'Most guys would likely stay away from Dayna forever if they found out she was involved in something like this...there must be a lot of trust between those two for him to take all this in and still act the exact same way towards her. If only the majority of mankind would be the same if they knew...' _she thought, the three descending a staircase and reaching a room filled with clock gears.

At the end of the room was a door with a green sign above it that read 'EXIT'. _'Exit, good.' _Dayna thought, moving forward.

Wishful thinking, unfortunately, Limbo reacting as she neared the exit.

_**STOP**_

She heard the deathly moan and saw the white letters once more, several gears of the tower shifting downward and blocking the doorway.

"Not good." she said, Ty stopping for a second and looking back. "Go on ahead, Ty. Limbo's just being a bitch again. I'll be out there in a minute." she said, the young man nodding and leaving along with Kat.

The enemies were another set of Stygians, strangely appearing in a straight line in front of her. "Limbo needs some upgrades on demons...you guys make this too easy!" she said, dashing forward with a powerful stab, impaling two of them right away and slamming them into the ground to kill them.

So focused was she on them though, she didn't notice an enemy drop from the sky as it managed to hit her across the back, making her stumble forward a couple steps and leaving a shallow cut across her back. Turning around, she saw the Stygian drop back for another strike, but she stopped it this time, batting it right into one of the spinning metal gears, shattering the demon instantly.

She turned back forward and nailed one of the remaining ones with an uppercut that sent it flying into the gears above, coming back as only black tar. Dayna attacked the last one with a flurry of strikes, each hit making it stumble, before finally hitting it hard enough to send it flying into the doorway, impacting against the exit sign and liquefying.

* * *

-{[meanwhile; park entrance]}-

Zack had driven to the pier as fast as he could, meeting up with Joe along the way. The two were waiting out front for Ian to arrive when, speak of the devil, he came roaring up to them in his Harley, parking it on the curb and removing his helmet before heading over to them.

"Glad you both could make it." Ian said, shaking their hands.

"Man, you're the one who called us. What took ya?" Zack asked.

"Tch...5-0, of course. They blocked off a part of the interstate, so I had to take a detour. It looks like entire squads are heading over here. We need to take out whomever's doing this and get out, fast. You got your weapons?" Ian said, straightening out his leather jacket.

Zack pointed to his back, where a black bookbag was attached. Joe slightly raised a blue 'gym' bag he had strapped to his shoulder.

"Good. Let's move!" Ian ordered, the three heading into the park and breaking into a sprint. "Zack, can you tell where Ty is right now?"

Zack pulled out his gps and examined it for a second. "Far western end of the park. Even at this pace, we're still a few minutes away." he answered, Ian grimacing at the info.

"And you couldn't contact him?" Ian asked, Zack shaking his head.

"Nah...his phone's either off or dead. Didn't ring even once." the caucasian responded.

"Damn it, of all the times...come on, we'd better push it." Ian said back, the three heading westward as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Where are the gunmen?" Joe suddenly asked, catching the attention of the other two.

"Hey, he's right...there's no armed dudes here, no shooting going on, or anything. What's the deal?" Zack commented, only seeing the wrecked structures and people running around screaming like their heads were chopped off.

"Maybe they're using cloaking devices and bombs instead of straight-up guns." Ian guessed, worrying Zack.

"Are you kidding?! They could take out the entire pier doing that!"

"Which is exactly why we gotta find Ty and Dayna and get the hell out. No time to camp and wait; we'll have to hit whoever we catch on the fly as we head back. Be sure to keep a lock on Ty and tell us if he starts moving." Ian ordered.

"Got it." Zack complied. "I'd better break out the infrared." he continued, donning a pair of goggles with the specialized vision.

"Can you see 'em?" Ian asked, reaching a hand into his jacket.

"Nothing…only the random park goers and residents. Three possible outlooks: there's barely any of them here, these guys are freakin' ninjas, or they somehow managed to set up a crapton of bombs here in advance without anyone noticing." the tech wiz answered, a flabbergasted look on his face.

"I'm not bettin' money on any of those. Keep looking. There has to be something here." Ian said.

"Wait, wait…I think I'm getting something." Zack said, tapping the side of the goggles to activate the zoom. "The hell?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, looking high up.

"What is it?" Ian inquired, looking at him.

"Either I'm hallucinating, or we got King Kong's cousin up in here trashing the place!" the white man yelled, Ian and Joe giving him odd looks.

"You mean a giant, animatronic monkey or something?" Ian asked, not quite comprehending what his friend was saying.

"Robots aren't supposed to have cloaking and heat signatures, bro." Zack said, all three of them falling silent at the realization.

"I think we need to hurry up." Joe said after a moment of relative quiet, the other two nodding as all of them expedited their mad dash, hoping that their friends were alright…

* * *

-{[outside; with Dayna in Limbo]}-

The second she left the building, she had to dodge a giant flying blade that came hurtling at her!

Ending up in front of a cracked mirror, she was surprised when the brushes of a mop landed atop her hair, framing her head and making it look as though her hair was white instead of black.

"_Huh…that ain't a half-bad look for you, Dayna."_ Ty commented, a hand on his chin in a 'thinking' pose.

"Please. I look like an old bat." Dayna responded, not quite appreciating white hair.

"_I dunno, babe...just seems right for you."_ Ty said back with a look of appraisal.

Before Dayna could answer back, she looked to her right and saw the Hunter making its way towards her yet again. She took one last look at herself in the mirror.

"I'll think about it." she said, yanking the 'wig' off her head and pulling out her pistols to fire at the demon...only for the bullets to bounce right off. Dayna gave her guns a questioning look, wondering what was wrong.

"_The Hunter's bulletproof while we're here. Guns won't work on him for now."_ Kat enumerated as the Hunter again went off to who-knows-where, disappearing from view. Dayna and Ty wordlessly followed Kat, the three now breaking into a run.

"_There's a rift up ahead."_ Kat said, the others looking at her questioningly.

"A what?" Dayna asked.

"_A rift…a tear between the dimensions. It'll take you back to the real world from Limbo. We can come back for the Hunter later."_ she explained, leading them to a large carousel with a clown face as advertisement.

The way here was particularly chaotic in Limbo, several buildings detaching from the ground and floating in mid-air in blatant disregard to the laws of physics. Any natural scientist would have a field day examining the phenomenon…if they could survive the rampaging demons and harsh environment, of course.

But of course, Limbo decided to throw Dayna one last 'fuck you'…

_**TRAP HER**_

Dayna saw these two words display in front of her and instantly knew shit was about to go down. And she was right, as the clown-faced amusement ride shattered into huge pieces and spontaneously collapsed in front of her when that thrice-damned metal claw smashed through its supporting structure.

(play Hunter's theme)

'_Amusement park, my ass…' _she thought, now quite annoyed. With the way forward completely blocked off, she turned to face the Hunter demon, who was howling for blood. "Alright…let's fight." Dayna challenged, ready to finally settle this.

"_Dayna, wait."_ Kat called out, hurling a molotov cocktail at the demon, which surprisingly collided against its face, the fire making it reel in pain. _"It's working, you can fight him now."_ she said, getting Ty's attention.

"_Oh, so things in the real world can hurt that thing now? Is that 'cause of the rift?"_ he asked, Kat nodding in confirmation. _"Sweet. Point me at that thing. Or better yet…"_ he started, walking over to Dayna and placing his hand on her shoulder, activating his 'Limbo vision' again.

While mentally noting that he could actually physically feel Dayna unlike before, he followed her line of sight and finally saw the Hunter for the first time. "Goddamn! Now that is one _ugly _monkey." he said, reaching into his hoodie and whipping out a western-style revolver, a Desert Eagle.

He took aim with both hands after making sure he knew where the demon was, his 'normal vision' returning as he nailed it with a shot into the slit on its forehead which caused it to roar in what was hopefully pain. He'd gained the same visual perception of the demon as he did Dayna, it now being visible in a silvery-white color.

"_Be careful, Dayna. Hunters are extremely dangerous."_ Kat warned, backing away.

"So am I." Dayna responded, focused completely on the task in front of her…killing this bastard.

"_Ty, you need to fall back and let Dayna take care of this!"_ Kat admonished, seeing that Ty had no intention of leaving.

"_Tch, like I'm gonna let her have all the fun."_ Ty responded, readying his magnum.

"_This isn't a game! You don't stand a chance against the Hunter, you'll only get in the way if you try to face it!"_ Kat retorted, trying to make him see reason.

"_I am not about to hang back and take shit from this mutated Kong knockoff! All I gotta do is keep my distance while Dayna does her thing and make sure I have plenty of ammo, which I do. You leave if you want, I'm helping her send this thing back to hell. If any of my bros were with me, they'd do the exact same thing."_ Ty declared, resolute. Dayna smiled at him and was about to respond, when…

"_Damn straight, we would."_ a new voice suddenly chimed in, the others turning to see that it was Zack, along with Ian and Joe!

* * *

Notes

Finally got this one done. I think I will go ahead and make this a full story for my repertoire. Heck, I'm getting more and more into it as I go along. Sorry if some of the 'crossed speech' lines weren't underlined as they were meant to be...the site seems to have a problem with formatting at times when people submit updates.

Anyways, next chapter will include the Hunter boss battle in its entirety along with some more exposition, leading into Dayna's first meeting with Kat's superior officer.

Until next time, this is VaLente Spada, signing off. See ya!


End file.
